


a rush, a glance, a touch, and a dance

by silversoul_snow



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Action/Adventure, Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Avengers: Endgame (Movie), Avengers: Endgame (Movie) Spoilers, Fix-It, Ghosts, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Post-Avengers: Endgame (Movie), Steve Rogers Feels, Steve Rogers Needs a Hug, Supernatural Elements, Time Travel Fix-It, Tony Stark Has A Heart
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-05-01
Updated: 2019-05-05
Packaged: 2020-02-10 17:23:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,970
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18664960
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/silversoul_snow/pseuds/silversoul_snow
Summary: If he is going mad or dare he say it, being haunted, then Steve may as well have his fun with it. A world with the ghost of Tony Stark is better than a world without him.OrPost-endgame AU where Steve goes on a journey to return the Infinity stones and cycles through the 5 stages of grief but is accompanied by the ghost of Tony Stark along the way.





	1. The Power Stone

**Author's Note:**

> Not betaed - 4/30/2019

_hello from the other side_

 

Steve leaves the day after the funeral.

 

He doesn’t want to stay longer to hear the _I’m sorry_ and consolations from people who barely knew Tony. To see Pepper, Rhodes, Morgan and Happy huddled together like a grieving family. To witness the heartbreak and devastation on the face of Tony’s kid, that Spiderman, as he loses the best mentor he ever had.

 

Most of all, he doesn't want to face the gaping absence that Tony had left behind. Tony Stark always had, and oh doesn't _that_ hurt, using past tenses to think of him, a larger than life presence. He commanded attention the minute he stepped into the room. It wasn't surprising that he caught Thanos's attention, although Steve wishes it weren’t so. No one else could be the center of the universe like Tony Stark.

 

No one else could have been as good a man like Tony Stark.

 

And although he will never admit this, he doesn’t want to face the accusing stares from Tony’s loved ones. _It should have been you,_ they scream silently. Steve doesn’t need them to tell him that. He knows it should have been _him._

 

“I’ve gotten my second chance,” Tony had said when Steve had visited him for the first time in five years. Seeing how happy Tony had been with Morgan and Pepper on his little farm was the only reason that Steve walked away without an argument, although it broke his heart to know that he wasn’t the cause of that happiness. That right didn’t belong to him anymore.

 

Tony had his second chance, and Steve's the one who took it away from him. He doesn't know how to deal with that fact.

 

“Take as long as you need.” Bruce’s voice draws him back from his wandering thoughts and Steve nods. He suits up and steps onto the machine, carrying the briefcase in one hand. All the Infinity Stones contain in a single briefcase, how _insane_ is that. He holds a hand out and summons Mjolnir to him, and it comes. It still feels like a dream. Steve can't believe that the hammer had deemed him worthy. In the adrenaline of the battle, he had brushed it off as a fluke, but Thor had thrown his head back and laughed giddily, booming, "I knew it!" And now it still responds to him, even after the war is over.

 

He still has his doubts over the credibility of Mjolnir’s trust, but it is nice to know that someone has faith in you when you don’t have faith in yourself. Even if that someone is a magical hammer.

 

“We’ll see you in five seconds,” Bruce says as he powers up the machine. Steve activates the helmet and punches in the coordinates for the timeline that he will be spat out into. First stop: Morag. He doesn’t have a set idea of the exact order he should return the stones in, but getting off Earth may be a start. Go see the universe like how Tony was always saying he should. No better time to start than now.

 

The light flashes, and he's gone.

 

 

 

Morag is… a surprisingly desolate planet. It’s dark and gloomy and barren. When Tony spoke of the wonders of space, Steve hasn’t been expecting this. Well, he doesn’t know what he is expecting, but it certainly isn’t this. It’s barren without any hint of life.

 

A squeak by his foot causes him to immediately amend that thought. A little creature squeaks at him again and bites down on his boot. Fortunately for Steve, the time travel suit is sturdy enough to withstand bites from tiny baby dinosaurs and similar creatures. With a sigh, he bends over and easily removes the animal from his boot, placing it on the ground before shooing it away. As much as he wants to stay and explore the planet, he may not have his shield, but he has Mjolnir, it won't do this timeline any good if he stays longer than he is welcomed to.

 

Steve picks his way across the planet to where the Temple Vault stood, careful to not crush any of those little creatures under him by accident. There's only a small window of time for him to return the power stone. Nebula and Rhodes of the past had returned to the ship, and it is only a matter of time before Quill wakes up. There are other people out there in this timeline looking for the stone too.

 

Nebula had tried to explain as much as she could to Steve before he left. He didn't want to bother Rhodes, there were more important things for Tony's best friend to be attending to. All he had gleaned from her explanations is that Quill is a dumbass and there are no traps in the temple for him to be worried about. Sure enough, there is a body lying there in the middle of the barren land. For a moment, Steve is afraid that it's a dead body, but then he remembers Rhodes commenting after they came back from the time heist, that he had to knock Quill about. He sounded so gleeful about doing it that Steve had been afraid for a second.

 

“Wow, just when I thought he couldn’t look any stupider back on Titan, he looks plenty dumb here.”

 

Steve freezes. Isn't he supposed to be the only one on this planet? He doesn't know which is more terrifying, the fact that someone has seen him when he shouldn't have been seen, creating a new timeline and all that, or that the voice is awfully familiar to him. His mind narrows in on the second thought and his body tenses. It can't be…

 

Steve shakes his head before telling himself to get a grip on it. It must be the grief talking. Losing Natasha and then Tony one after the other is finally taking its toll on him. He hadn't had time to mourn, with the battle and then the funeral going on immediately afterward, but he had thought that he would have the chance to grieve once the stones are all returned. Once his job is done, and he can rest. Still, Steve braces himself and shoulders on, just like how he has been doing for the past twelve years ever since he woke up from the ice.

 

He enters the temple, and like Nebula had said, no traps or anything of that sort is triggered. Replacing the stone back into the Orb, and then into the containment device is the easy part. In fact, it's so easy that Steve thinks there must be a catch somewhere. The hard part is trying his best to ignore the quips that his Tony hallucination keeps making behind his back. Maybe that’s the catch.

 

Steve doesn't want to turn around. He doesn't know what's crueler if he does; seeing nothing or seeing the ghost of Tony Stark.

 

“That’s cold of you, Cap. Ignoring me already? And here I thought my death thawed your frozen heart and made you shed a tear. Or has it been so long that you have already forgotten about me?”

 

That… He can’t.

 

That’s just too painful.

 

Steve whirls around, ready to tell his hallucination to shut the hell up and go back to where it came from the depths of his tortured mind. But the words die in his mouth, and he chokes on them.

 

The second option it is.

 

For the ghostly image of Tony Stark stands in front of him. He’s wearing the same clothes that he had been wearing when he came to the compound with Steve’s shield and the answer to time travel.

 

Steve stares in shock before he closes his eyes in pain. Maybe this is his punishment.

 

He opens his eyes and Tony is still staring back at him, with an eyebrow raised. It’s just a Tony look that Steve’s heart clenches on itself.

 

“Brilliant, I’ve gone mad.” He mutters to himself as he picks up the briefcase. “I’m hallucinating.”

 

"Well, that's just uncalled for. I'm not a figment of your imagination. I'm a ghost!" He proclaims, with his arms wide open.

 

“That’s not any better.” Steve sighs tiredly as he drinks in the image of Tony in front of him. _How is he here,_ he thinks _, he’s gone. I saw him go._

 

“You’re not here.”

 

“Sure I am. I’m standing right in front of you, aren’t I?” The ghostly image frowns at him.

  
"You're not… You're gone. You're -" Steve still can't bring himself to say it. It feels too final, and he isn't ready for that yet.

 

"Yeah well, Capsicle. I'm dead, aren't I." Well, he supposes that works too. It seems as if Tony himself has come to terms with his death already. But that's Tony Stark, he adapts fast.

 

“No one else with you?”

 

"It had to be me," Steve replies, toying with the briefcase. Bucky had offered, so had Sam and Nebula but Steve had rejected them all. He had to get away from that time; there's nothing left for him there. Besides, it had to be him. Tony and he started the Avengers, it just feels right for him to be the one to end it. And even though he hasn't voiced it out, not even to himself, he doesn't plan on going back to that timeline. At least not yet.

 

“That’s a lonely quest, Cap. Think I’ll stick around for it, just to keep you company because you know, I’m so generous like that.”

 

Steve simply nods. Logically, it may be easier for him to move on if he doesn't keep seeing the ghost of Tony Stark everywhere he looks, but Steve has never been a logical person. Not when it comes to Tony. Hallucination or apparition or whatever, he'll take every memory of Tony that he can. Because there aren't any new memories to make with him anymore.

 

If he is going mad or dare he say it, being haunted, then Steve may as well have his fun with it. A world with the ghost of Tony Stark is better than a world without him.

 

“Excellent,” Tony exclaims before looking around the temple curiously. “I was expecting some type of Indiana Jones-level kind of adventure in here, but it’s shockingly boring. Whoever built this place has no flare.”

 

“Of course you’d think that.” Steve chuckles.

 

A groan from outside the temples interrupts them, and Steve remembers that he isn't supposed to dwell in another timeline for extended periods. Guess that's his cue to go.

 

He’s halfway through putting in the coordinates when he freezes and glances at Tony. What if… Steve isn’t sure if he’s brave enough to take that chance.

 

Tony reads the glance and smiles, "Don't worry. I'll show up wherever you are. I'm haunting you, remember?"

 

“Right.” He finishes punching in the coordinates and announces. “Asgard, 2013.”

 

“I’ve always wanted to see Thor’s homeland. Pity that he’s never given us a tour.” Tony comments as the watch buzzes, and then Steve’s gone.

 

The vault is quiet; as if no one has ever disturbed its peace.

 

 

 

Quill wakes up with a groan and rubs the back of his head. What the hell happened? He was just singing and dancing to his favorite tune when suddenly something knocked him out. He frowns, feeling as if he is forgetting something.

 

What is he doing on this planet again?

 

Right! The Orb thingy!

 

He leaps up to his feet and enters the Temple Vault. Thankfully, the Orb is still there. It wouldn't have been good if he disappointed his client. Though, Quill shoots it a suspicious look. He doesn't know what knocked him out, and that makes this planet suddenly so much more dangerous. Although admittedly, he hadn't been paying attention to his surroundings, more interested in listening to his music. Not going to repeat that mistake again, Quill takes the stone happily but glances around just to be sure.

 

There’s no one but him in the Temple Vault.


	2. The Reality Stone

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Steve's anger is from grief, and lots of pent up emotions before. I tried to bring it across as well as I could, but seems slightly OOC still

The first thing that comes to Steve’s mind is how golden the entire palace is. The second thing is _Where is Tony?_

 

A simple, _“Wow, Midas would have a field day here”_ next to him easily solves that problem. He turns around, and Tony is staring at the surroundings in awe.

 

The third thing is that even though the time travel suits gives him the power to time travel,it doesn’t allow him to turn invisible and so here he is, trying to hide from the guards. It feels like the 1940s again, infiltrating the Hydra base, except more golden and less nerve-wracking.

 

“Any clue where Jane Foster is?” He whispers, hiding behind the pillar from yet another patrol of guards.

 

“Is she not in Thor’s bedroom?” Tony replies as he wanders nonchalantly down the long hallway, making faces at the guards. An earlier encounter, one that Steve almost died of a heart attack from, proved that nobody but Steve can hear or see Tony. Of course, the man himself had figured that out a while back but took pleasure in pranking Steve. “It was just so fun to see the shocked look your face,” was his answer.

 

“Thor’s a gentleman…. I think.”

 

“Ah well, time for a little high adventure then, wouldn’t you say?”

 

“Or you could make yourself useful and help me find her.” Steve glares. They’ve been in the palace for a while, but there’s still no sign of Jane Foster. To be fair, Steve has spent most of the time playing hide-and-seek with the palace guards. He suspects that they have increased the security of the place ever since Thor and Rocket broke in. It’s a pity that Thor knows the floor plan of the palace but not the patrol routines. Steve had kept the questioning to a minimum as the pain in Thor’s eyes told him everything that he needed to know. Steve may have lost his family, but Thor lost everything that he held dear. In the very least, he had the chance to make up with Tony. Thor lost that chance with his brother. Forever.

 

Personally, Steve thinks that Loki is still wandering the galaxy out there. Somewhere. The god just doesn’t seem to be able to stay dead, and he hopes for Thor’s sake, that it stays that way.

 

“Now, where’s the fun in that?” Tony grins.

 

Fun indeed. Steve has been prowling around for a good forty-five minutes, and he’s sure he’s already broken the supposed rules of time travel already by spending such a long time in another timeline. And Tony’s ongoing commentary isn’t helping the growing frustration that he is currently feeling.

 

Don’t get him wrong. Steve Rogers loves Tony Stark. Has had, and will always. That, however, doesn’t exempt him from being annoyed with Tony’s all-talk-and-no-action current attitude. He can’t fault the other though, seeing how Tony is currently floating three feet off the ground, and making crude hand gestures at one of the guards.

 

“Can you be quiet a little?” He hisses.

 

“Why? There’s no point. No one except you can hear me.” Tony says, skipping around the corridor.

 

“Exactly. I can hear you, and I can't think over your chatter.”

 

“Aww, Cap. You say the sweetest things. Don’t you enjoy my company?”

 

Steve’s reply is delayed when he sneaks pass yet another patrol of guards. “Not particularly at this moment when I have to do this all by myself.”

 

“Well, if you brought someone else along with you to this reverse time-heist, you wouldn’t be having this problem.” Steve loves these little banters he does with Tony whenever they’re on a mission together, except for some reason, this time it seems to rub him the wrong way.

 

Like running a jagged knifed through an open wound again and again.

 

It possibly may be because Steve hasn’t wrapped his head around the fact that he’s talking to the ghost of Tony Stark. In his defense, he hasn’t exactly had the time to sit down and ruminate.

 

“Oh come on, Cap. You’re telling me that no one else offered to come with your lonesome self?” Tony says when Steve fails to give a response. If there’s one thing Tony hates in the world, it’s being ignored. By a specific Steve Rogers.

 

“They did, but it has to be me.” Sam did. Bucky did. Nebula did. Heck, even Scott did, but Steve had rejected them all.

 

He swears quietly as his response almost got him caught by guards. “Tony, really, cut the chatter for a minute until I’m done with returning the ether.”

 

Tony ignores him. _What else is new?_ “Oh really? All alone? Well, at least on the bright side, you’ve got me.”

 

“It’s not like I have a choice in that, did I?” Steve bites out, his frustration finally leaking into his words. The minute the words are out though, he regrets it.

 

Tony falls silent, an expression of hurt falling over his face before a calm mask taking its place almost immediately. Steve hates himself for putting it there. Both the hurt expression and facade. But he’s so angry. So very angry, and he doesn’t even know why. “But since I’m stuck with you, will you just listen to me and let me finish the mission before we make small talk?” The words keep coming.

 

“Steve - “

 

“No Tony. Don’t. I don’t want to argue with you.”

 

“Well, that’s new. Wasn’t a sentiment when I was still alive.”

 

The burning anger in Steve flares up, and he manages to temp it down only because a group of royal ladies walks pass them. He takes the chance to regulate his breathing and tries to calm himself down.

 

“Rogers,” Oh now they’re going back to using last names huh? “You’re stalling for time.” Tony suddenly points out.

 

He isn’t. He’s just taking a really long time because guess _who_ keeps talking to him and distracting him. “And who’s fault is that, Stark?” He says instead.

 

Tony sucks in a sharp breath at the usage of his last name. Steve doesn’t know why the inventor is surprised. He’s the one who started it.

 

“You can just ignore me easily, you know. You’ve always done that. Like with the accords, and then Ultron, and then oh I don’t know, everything else.” There’s a hint of tenseness in Tony’s voice. This conversation is going south. Fast.

 

Steve laughs bitterly. This is always what it came back down to huh. Their past, and the mistakes that they made. He can easily play the blame game, but what use is that? Tony’s _dead_. Steve’s the one living with the blame now.

 

“Oh Tony, never. You, I can never ignore. It may not always seem like it, but I’ve always heard you. I may not listen, but I’ve paid attention and heard. Look at me now, I’m still talking to a ghost of you and not focusing on my mission.” Steve sighs, leaning back against the wall as a sudden wave of exhaustion takes over him. This isn’t the best place to be having this conversation. “Besides, Bruce says to take as long as I need.”

 

Tony smartly ignores the can of worms that’s laid in front of him. They have too many things left unsaid to pick apart now, although Steve doesn’t know if they’ll ever have that chance. “And how long do you need?”

 

“…. I - I don’t know," Steve admits.

 

“Come on, how can you not know? It’s a quick job, in and out, and you’re gone. I’d say, 10 minutes per realm? That means that home within the hour.”

 

Steve doesn’t reply, more focused on trying to figure out which part of the palace he has ended up in now, and how far it is away from Jane Foster’s room.

 

“Cap?” Tony prompts.

 

He has to give Tony an answer, else Tony will never let the subject drop. There’s nobody else to distract the inventor. But…

 

“Don’t make me answer that Tony. You won’t like my answer.”

 

Silence falls between them, but it’s short as Tony quickly figures out what Steve isn’t saying.

 

“You mean, you don’t want to go home?”

 

“It’s not home, Tony.”

 

“What do you mean 'It’s not home.'" Steve can practically hear the quotation marks. “What happened to all that, ' _I’m home,'_ speech you were giving me back on the quad?”

 

“That’s years ago, Tony.”

  
“Then what changed? Tell me!” _Tony really wants to fix this problem,_ Steve thinks, and his heart feels warm. _But he can’t._ “So what’s your plan then? Float around the different timelines? Go back to 1940s and stay there? Hide out in the Maldives and enjoy the sun?”

 

Steve doesn’t answer.

 

“Oh my god. That’s your plan?” He can feel the disappointment radiating off Tony. How’s that possible? He’s _incorporeal_. “After all I did to restore the normal version of the planet? I brought back everyone that you loved! Even that grease lighting of yours! I even died just to do that!”

 

“THAT’S EXACTLY IT!” The words burst out without him realizing it, and they keep flowing. “You wanna know what’s changed? _You_. You did, Tony.”

 

“What -“

 

“You _died_. When I woke up in this era, I had no one, nothing. You gave me a purpose, somewhere to belong… You gave me a home. The world’s home when you’re alive in it. But now, _you’re gone._ ”

 

Grief clouds Tony’s expression. Steve doesn’t know who it’s for. He’s pretty sure the same emotion is mirrored on his own face.

 

“I lost Natasha, and I lost you. There’s nothing left for me in that world.”

 

“There’s Bucky. There’s Sam.” Tony points out.

 

“They’ll be fine. They’ve got each other.”

 

“And you’ve got them.”

 

Steve shakes his head. It doesn’t work like that. Not anymore. “They don’t need me. Not the person I’ve become now without you.” He's seen the glances that Sam and Bucky have been exchanging. They’re very familiar to him. He has exchanged the same type of glances with Tony. Once upon a time.

 

“You’re selfish, Rogers.”

 

Steve lets out a noise that sounds like a sob. He isn’t sure whether he’s going to end up laughing or crying. “Am I? You had your second chance with Pepper and Morgan. And I’m happy for you. I really am. But Tony, I lost my second chance with Peggy. And I lost my second chance with you. Not just as lovers, that’s gone years ago, believe me _, I know_ , and I hate myself for it. But as teammates and as friends. All I want is that second chance that I’m never going to get. Is that still being selfish, Tony?”

 

Silence falls between them. Steve takes in deep breaths to try and calm himself down. The conversation has dwelled into an unexpected direction, but it is what it is. He has finally pinpointed exactly what he’s angry at. The universe, for taking away his second chances. And at himself, for letting Tony die.

 

But not at Tony. Never Tony.

 

They walk together in silence and Steve has to sneak glances at Tony to make sure that the inventor hasn’t suddenly disappeared on him. He won’t put it past him.

 

Steve’s about to apologize for his little outburst when he feels someone behind him. Immediately, he turns around and comes face to face with a gentle lady with blonde hair. Something about her screams royalty, it may just be the way how she carries herself with elegance.

 

“Captain Rogers?” She asks in a soft voice.

 

Steve freezes. No one, except Thor maybe, is supposed to know who he is in this place. The lady sees the confusion on his face and smiles.

 

“I am Frigga, Queen of Asgard, wife of Odin,” Queen of Asgard? That means, “and mother of Thor and Loki.”

 

“Damn, now I see where Thor gets his looks from," Tony comments with a low whistle. Steve wants to give the inventor a warning glance, but he knows that it will just seem odd to their audience since he’s the only one who can see Tony. Their argument hasn’t been forgotten, but it’s been put aside for now.

 

“Your majesty.” Steve bows quickly. Of all people to bump into, he hasn’t excepted it to be Thor’s mother.

 

“I’m pleased to finally meet you,” she says in such a gentle way that Steve is suddenly reminded of his own mother, lost almost a century ago. He considers her and feels pained for the Thor from this timeline. Losing Frigga will only be the first of the many losses that Thor will have to face. “I’ve heard so much about you from my son.”

 

“Likewise," Steve replies. _Which son_ , he wants to ask, but doesn’t. Logically, his money is on Thor, but it won’t surprise the good captain if Loki came back to Asgard with a rant about the Avengers.

 

Frigga gestures a hand for Steve to walk with her, and who is he to deny a Queen what she wants? He falls into step easily next to her. Tony has fallen silent during this entire exchange, and only a quick glance reassures Steve that the other is still with him.

 

They walk in silence for a while and Steve’s mind reels to find something to talk about. Small talk, he can do small talk, even if he hates it. It’s only thanks to the UFO shows, and then the many galas that he gets dragged that Steve eventually gets the hang of it. _Tony would be so much better at this,_ he thinks. Tony would have Frigga charmed and laughing by now. That’s just the aura of Tony Stark.

 

“Compliment her on the palace.” The voice comes next to his year, and it’s the many years of training that allows Steve not to jump in surprise. Tony sounds as if he’s barely holding back a laugh.

 

“Huh…. This is a really nice palace you have.” Steve follows the order obediently.

 

Tony’s cackle bounces through the hallway. “Oh my god, I can’t believe you actually did it.”

 

He resolutely ignores Tony.

 

“Thank you, Captain.” Frigga tilts her head in acceptance. “I believe I have to thank you for looking after my son.”

 

“Thor?” Steve blinks. “Oh, he’s a good teammate and a friend. Lovely person. It’s our honor to have him on the Avengers.”

 

“Except when he’s drunk or trying to fight the Hulk," Tony adds.

 

Frigga stops in front of a window and turns to gaze at Steve. He fidgets slightly under her scrutiny before pulling himself together.

 

“The future hasn’t been kind to my son, Captain.” She sighs and looks out of the window. “But neither has it been kind to you.”

 

Steve gulps. How does she know?

 

“I was raised by witches, and see with more than just my eyes.”

 

“Oh great, more magicy stuff. I hate it. What’s wrong with science?” Tony complains.

 

Steve silently agrees. Even though Tony often goes on rants about the science things that Steve doesn’t understand, at least it’s logical. Magic, on the other hands, leaves too much to fate and coincidences for his liking.

 

“That, and I met your Thor just a few minutes ago.”

 

“Our Thor?”

 

“Why yes. The Thor from your timeline. He was here with a rabbit, and they took the ether. I’m assuming you’re here to return it.”

 

Damn it Rocket. Damn it Thor. Steve isn’t surprised that Thor had tried to seek out his mother, especially in that state he had been in. Although, he does wish that they gave him a warning.

 

“You’re right.” He agrees easily. There’s no point in lying to Frigga, not when she knows the entire game plan. Besides, Thor and Loki must have gotten their smarts from somewhere. “We’ll be gone before you know it.”

 

Frigga hums and her eyes travel down Steve’s body before stopping at his left hand. He follows the direction and flushes when he realizes what Frigga is looking at.

 

Mjolnir held in his hand.

 

“Huh, this, huh…” He stammers, unsure of how to explain, before holding it out to her. “Here, I came to return this to the Thor of this timeline.”

 

Frigga shakes her head and laughs softly. “I see it has deemed you worthy.”

  
“An accident.”

 

“Unlikely.”

 

Frigga doesn’t take the hammer, and Steve looks at Mjolnir and then at the queen. “So, the hammer?” He prompts, still awkwardly thrusting it out towards her.

 

“Oh! Just leave it on the ground. Thor does that sometimes and forgets where he left it lying around. Since it always comes back to him, he doesn’t exactly pay much attention to where he puts it.”

 

Sounds like something that Thor would do, but Steve doesn’t feel comfortable treating such a powerful weapon so crassly. Still, Frigga knows better than him, and Steve sets the hammer down gently. He will miss holding it. It felt amazing fighting Thanos with it.

 

“I still salty I couldn’t get a good view of you fighting Thanos with that.” Tony whines from where he’s sitting on the windowsill. Steve allows a slight smile to slip out.

 

There is a moment of silence as Frigga looks at him and starts walking again. Steve wonders what’s going through the queen’s mind at this exact moment. Did she hate him for allowing her son to sink that far? For not being able to help Thor when he needed it most? Steve had tried. Both Natasha and he had made multiple trips to New Asgard to try and talk to Thor, or just sit with him in silence and play Fortnite. Natasha had picked it up faster than Steve had and was quickly destroying him in every single game. They had tried for two years, but on the second anniversary of Thanos’s snap, a drunk Thor had begged the two of them to not look for him again. Seeing what was left of the Avengers only reminded Thor of how he had failed to kill Thanos and brought about the destruction of half of humanity.

 

After that, Steve and Natasha never went back. They kept tabs on him via Valkyrie and helped out in the construction of New Asgard, but they never saw Thor face to face again. Until Bruce brought him back with them three years later to reassemble the team.

 

A gentle and warm hand on Steve’s cheek brings him back from his wandering thoughts. He hasn’t even realized that they had stopped walking. Frigga strokes his cheek softly and her heart pains for the young man standing in front of her. Such a youthful face with such old and weary eyes. Like her son that she had just seen a few minutes ago, the captain looks ragged and tired. Instantly, Frigga knows that whatever war Thor and his friends had been trying to win, they had won but at a terrible cost. Life just isn’t fair to the Avengers.

 

“You’ve gained so much.” She says in a soft tone. “But you’ve also lost so much, captain. You have a hard path in front of you, and a hard choice to make. But if you stay true to yourself and your heart, you’ll make the right one.”

 

Steve stares back at the queen and breathes in deeply. Well, doesn’t that just sound ominous.

 

“That doesn’t sound too good.” Tony echoes his thoughts.

 

With a final motherly pat on his cheek, Frigga stops in front of a door.

 

“Jane Foster is in here. I believe that she’s currently asleep.”

 

Steve looks at the door, and then back at Frigga.

 

“Your majesty…”

 

“None of that,” Frigga waves a regal hand in the hair. “Whoever is a friend of my son’s, is a friend of mine.”

 

Speechless, Steve can only bow to the queen. She bows back.

 

“Be strong, Steve Rogers. Mjolnir deeming you worthy is not an accident. Everything will be fine.” And with that, she turns and strides away.

 

Steve stares after her.

 

“So… any idea what that’s about?” Tony asks from his side.

 

Steve shakes his head before turning to Tony. “Well, whatever it is, it can't be any harder than fighting Thanos.”

 

“Well, whatever it is, at least we’re fighting it together.”

 

He raises an eyebrow at the ghostly figure.

 

“Okay, fine. You fight, I do cheerleader routines and admire America’s ass.” Tony amends with a laugh.

 

“I'm still not sure I’m just dreaming you all up.” He admits.

 

“That’s just sad.”

 

 _It’s sad that you died and left me behind,_ Steve bites his tongue before the words slipped out. It isn’t fair to Tony; he didn’t ask to die.

 

“Come on,” he says instead. “We have to a girl to inject.”

 

With that, he slips into the room, and like Frigga had said, Jane Foster is lying asleep on the bed.

 

“Never thought I’d see a day where Captain America sneaks into someone’s bedroom.” Tony strolls into the room casually and makes a beeline towards Jane.

 

Steve rolls his eyes. He’d respond except it runs the risk of waking the sleeping figure up. Quietly and quickly, he injects the ether into her and watches as Jane shudders. Thor had mentioned that Jane was sick because of the reality stone, and Steve feels bad putting it back into her, but they can’t risk creating a new timeline. He has to do what has to be done.

 

As always.

 

Once done, he slips out and back into the corridor. Two down, four more to go.

 

“I snuck into yours. Many times.” He finally says when they are a good distance away from the room.

 

Tony blinks at him, confused for a minute before realizing what Steve’s responding to. Then, he promptly breaks into chuckles. “It isn’t sneaking if I gave you the password to my floor.”

 

Steve shrugs. “Same thing. One’s covert, one’s not. That’s it.”

 

“Why Captain, aren’t you supposed to be a good soldier?” Tony chuckles.

 

“Fake news, I have no idea where you got that piece of information from.” Till this day, Steve has no idea why Fury had thought either Captain America or Steve Rogers was going to be a good soldier and listen to orders. This was the same boy who forged his personal information seven times just to get into the army. When Steve had told Bucky S.H.I.E.L.D’s plan of Steve waking up in a 1940s-like room after the ice, Bucky had fallen over laughing for a good fifteen minutes before he could get up.

 

Just like how Tony’s laughing now. The sound of Tony’s laughter can always warm Steve’s heart, even on a freezing cold New York winter day.

 

Steve laughs with him.

 

“I hate fighting with you, even if you’re a ghost.” He confesses. That’s as close as an apology Tony is going to get.

 

“Yeah, me too.” Tony smiles sadly at him. _Resentment is corrosive, and I hate it_ , he remembers Tony saying him. Steve had agreed then, and he agrees now.

 

“I… I don’t know what I’m going to do.” He says, staring blankly at the wall, before gathering himself. “I agreed to return the stones, but I haven’t decided where I want to return to afterward.”

 

Tony’s right. 1940s is an option, but Steve doesn’t know if it’s the right one.

 

“It’s alright. You have four more stones to figure it out.”

 

“Yeah.”

 

“We’ll do it _together,_ Steve. It’s okay.” Steve glances at Tony and finds himself looking at a reassuring smile. Steve smiles back.

  
Tony’s smile has no business in making him feel as relieved as he does now simply by looking at it.

 

“Come on,” Steve says as he punches in the coordinates for the next destination.

 

“Where to, Cap?”

 

“Sanctum Sanctorum, 2012.”

 

“Ah, back to New York City, where it all began.”


End file.
